Dr. Canda D. Mueller, joined the NWEA team from Questar Assessment, Inc., where she held several key leadership roles including Vice President, Assessment Services, and Vice President, Assessment Design and Psychometrics. Previously, Dr. Mueller worked as a research scientist for Pearson, and Program Director for Applied Measurement Professionals (AMP), and as a consultant to the Assessment Technologies Institute and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on a pilot NAEP alignment project. Dr. Mueller has experience at the state and local district level, having been the NAEP coordinator for the Kansas State Department of Education, as well as Director of Assessment and Evaluation for Salina Public Schools in Kansas. Dr. Mueller began her career as a teacher, teaching math and science at both the post-secondary and K-12 level. Dr. Mueller holds both a M.A. in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Kansas, as well as a B.S., Mathematics from Southwestern Oklahoma State University.